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ENGLISH 10�HONORS ENGLISH 10

Tuesday, September 12th

Mr. Todoroff

 

NOTE:

To change the image on this slide, select the picture and delete it. Then click the Pictures icon in the placeholder to insert your own image.

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LiveLesson Behavior Expectations

  • Be respectful
  • Participate: Make the most of this time!
  • Stay on topic!
  • Never give out private information
  • You are a scholar here: Do your best to always use correct English and avoid “text speak”

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Schoolwide Learning Objectives

  • SLOs

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    • Academic Achievement
    • Self-motivated Learners
    • Technology Users
    • Critical Thinking
    • Effective Communication

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Core Standards

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2�Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.6�Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.1�Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

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THEME

The Heart of Literature

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Theme

  • What do we mean by theme?

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Listen to Master Yoda You Should!

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Theme

  • Theme is an insight about life or underlying truth that you recognize from your own personal experience when reading a literature selection
  • It is different than “the moral of the story”
  • It is a statement that you see the story is making about society, human nature, or the human condition (the characteristics that make us human)
  • There is no “one right answer”
    • Interpretations need to be supported by evidence
    • Some interpretations may be more valid than others
  • The theme is what you bring to the story, not what the author “wants you to think”

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Theme

  • Themes are expressed as statements
    • You cannot express a theme in one word
  • Invalid
    • “The theme of the story is pride”
  • Better
    • “The theme of the story is that pride can cause a person to make terrible mistakes.”

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Theme

  • The theme needs to express an idea and make a point that applies to life in general
  • Needs improvement:
    • “The theme is that the family in the story loves one another.”
  • Better
    • “The theme is that the bond between family members can be stronger than outside friendships.”

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Theme

  • Notice that themes are often expressed as possibilities and opinions rather than as cold facts or harsh statements
  • Needs improvement:
    • “The theme of the poem is that love is a waste of time.”
  • Better
    • “The theme of the poem is that love can be tragic and painful.”

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Theme

  • What theme about human behavior can be applied to this photograph?

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Theme

  • What theme about human behavior can be applied to this photograph?
  • What about now?
    • Hint: Think of the phrase “Burying your head in the sand”
  • Apply the same strategy for literature

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Theme in Literature

  • To gain insight into the theme of a fiction selection or a poem, it helps to analyze literary elements
  • As you read the poem, what images come to mind? What do you see?
  • How do you feel when you read portions of this poem?
  • What might some of the images symbolize? In other words, what might the two bodies represent? The waves? Stones in a desert? Roots, knives, sparks, stars, sky?

“Two Bodies” by Octavio Paz

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“Two Bodies” by Octavio Paz

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State the Theme

  • What insight about life can be taken from this poem?
  • State your interpretation of the theme in one sentence:

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A theme of “Two Bodies” by Octavio Paz is that while two people can be physically present with each other, they can still feel emotionally far apart.

“Two Bodies” by Octavio Paz

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Theme

  • Remember
    • There is no one “right “answer when it comes to theme
    • Some statements of theme are more valid than others based on the evidence to support your interpretation
    • Themes are statements that express opinions or conclusions, not single words or single ideas
    • Avoid expressing themes as clichés
    • Themes are ideas about life that you bring to the selection from your own experience